The Connection Between Autism and the Collecting Community

If you're around my age or older, the word autism probably brings to mind the image of a child with learning and physical handicaps, likely a young, white boy who likes trains and doesn't make eye contact.  "Girls didn't get autism," and if you could make eye contact or sit through a class without disrupting it, you were certainly not autistic.  That's what we were taught, given the data that was available at the time.  

As science has progressed, more has been learned about the traits that define autism.  Would you be surprised to learn that 80% of autistic folks do NOT have learning handicaps?  Most are of average intelligence, and some are above average, following the same curve as non-autists.  Girls are just as likely to be autistic as boys, but are far less likely to get diagnosed (even today) until they're older, because they learn to hide their differences in an effort to fit in.  Many women don't even get considered for autism until peri-menopause when their struggles sometimes become harder for them to hide.

What does this have to do with the collecting community, you ask?  A lot!  Stick with me here.  First, we need to understand the basics so that it makes more sense.

Autism is, in the simplest of terms, a person who has more neural connections in the brain than other folks.  Autists are better able to connect patterns, memorize information, and have an interest in really getting deeply into subjects that hold their attention (like horses).  On the other hand, many have difficulty in other areas -- feeling like they fit into social gatherings being a big one.  Autists find small talk useless and would prefer talking with someone who shares an interest with them.  They often feel unwanted in social situations, despite working exhaustively to try to make the right facial expressions, talk about the right things, and do all "the right things" the social group expects.  It just doesn't come naturally, and so it's hard work.

Enter the collecting community.  Many autistic folks - including LOTS of adults who may have never even considered they may be autistic { raises hand } have an interest that includes collectibles.  We aren't just collectors - We study the hobby, the manufacturer, the items... some of us become experts in our field of interest.  We may compete with our items at shows, buy or sell at swap meets, write books, or even go to work for the company that produces them.  We often feel an emotional connection with our collectibles that other people don't quite understand.  They bring us real joy.

Hello, I'm Eleda, and last year, at age 52, I discovered I'm autistic.  This was great and exciting news to me!  The only place I've ever felt like I fit in is in our wonderful model horse collecting community.  I graduated in the top ten of my high school class of over 200 students and have been a business owner since 2003.  I'm not what most people my age think of when they hear the word autism.  I'm not what I thought of when I heard the word autism.  But when a friend, who is so much like me that it was uncanny, mentioned that she's autistic, I took a fresh look at the science of today, and found I was reading my life story.  For the first time, I didn't feel like a failure for not being able to come up with useless small talk, or weird for loving model horses and always hoping to slip the subject into a conversation.  Finally, I understood who I am, and that there are millions of other folks who feel and think the same way. 

Many of us collectors are just now learning what autism actually is and are discovering that it's the missing piece to understanding ourselves.  At hobby stores and model horse shows, we finally find "our community." We feel shy and awkward when we first arrive, because we're afraid of being unwelcome, but we quickly discover that within the hobby, we can be ourselves without judgement.  We can swap stories all day long with someone we just met, and go home exhausted, but knowing we've made real friends... and look forward to the next time we meet up.

If any of this sounds like parts of your own life story, what would it hurt to look into it a little further?  You may find that after decades of worrying, you're really not broken at all.  You're just wired in a different, wonderful way.  Here are some great resources I recommend if you'd like to learn more:

Videos:

The "Auticate With Chris and Debby" channel on youtube is great for educating AND entertaining.  Here's a great video to start with.  He lists some things that may make you start looking back on your life differently if you're autistic.  It did for me.

Wait, Eleda is in a video about being autistic in our hobby?  Yep!  I just recorded with Matt and Erin of "The Autistic VOICE Project."  Part One is here.  Part Two will come out next Friday evening.  You'll get to see some Breyer models in the background, too.  :-)  If you enjoy the video, please give them a thumbs-up on youtube, and if you want to see more, please subscribe to their channel.  Their youtube channel is pretty new and they would love some new subscribers!

Interested in getting straight to the nuts and bolts to see if you may actually be autistic?  There are lots of scammy "tests" online to avoid, but these are good ones that are  accepted by therapists as being meaningful... and yes, they're free:

RAADS-R test for autist traits

CAT-Q for camouflaging autism in social settings

These tests don't officially diagnose anyone, but they can indicate if you're potentially autistic, which is a really great place to start.  I scored well into the "very likely" category, while Roy, who I made take them to make sure the tests were honest, scored as "unlikely to be autistic."  

I love our hobby community, because we are made up of so many different people with different backgrounds and opinions, but everyone has two things in common:  a love of horses and a respect for other hobbyists of all types.  Thanks for being a part of it with us!